CHICAGO, June 13 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in Illinois say the mother and godmother of a 14-year-old autistic boy tried to take their own lives after killing him.
Dorothy Spourdalakis, 50, and Jolanta Agata Skrodzka, 44, appeared in court Wednesday in Cook County, the Chicago Tribune reported. They were charged with the first-degree murder of Alex Spourdalakis, and ordered held without bail.
Police in River Grove, a densely populated village just outside Chicago, found the two women semi-conscious Sunday, Police Chief Rodger Loni said. They were locked in Alex's bedroom with his body.
Alex died after being stabbed several times. Investigators say he was killed Friday night.
The teen's father and uncle called police after calls to the home went unanswered. Spourdalakis and her husband are separated.
Prosecutors say Spourdalakis and Skrodzka left a suicide note saying that Alex's emotional state was getting worse and he was not getting good treatment. They said they killed the family cat, also by stabbing, to keep it from being sent to a pound.
Loni said police had been to the Spourdalakis apartment several times to help get Alex, who weighed 200 pounds, to doctors' appointments.
"He was big and strong and unwilling to go to the doctor," he said. "We had to restrain and hold him down."
Spourdalakis also appeared on a TV news broadcast several months ago, complaining her son was not getting good treatment.
